Scripture for Today, 11-5-16

Scripture: Literal Or Figurative?

Special topics in Bible interpretation all center around the use of figurative language in the Scriptures that involves "the representation of one concept in terms of another because the nature of the two things compared allows such an analogy to be drawn. 

Most writers use comparison to explain the unfamiliar by that which is already familiar to the reader."1 These figures of speech are very common in all language, and they are used to express things in interesting ways. It is important to remember that even when figurative "picture talk" is used, it is always intended to express a literal truth. 2

Figurative language is often used to speak about abstract concepts in terms of concrete things. All human speech contains this type of language because it is intrinsic to the way people communicate. 

​Very often when we are talking about something which is not perceptible by the five senses, we use words which in one of their meanings refer to things or actions that are. When a man says that he grasps an argument he is using a verb (grasp) which literally means to take something in the hand but he is certainly not thinking that his mind has hands or that an argument can be seized. To avoid the word grasp he may change the form of the expression and say, "I see your point," but he does not mean that a pointed object has appeared in his visual field. Everyone is familiar with this linguistic phenomenon and the grammarians call it metaphor. Anyone who talks about things that cannot be seen, or touched, or heard, or the like, must inevitably talk as if they could be seen or touched or heard.3

Almost all of the Bible language used to describe God involves metaphor because that is the only way that finite creatures can speak about the Infinite Creator.

• When told that King Herod wanted to kill him, Jesus could have said, "Go and tell the king..." Instead Jesus said, "Go and tell that fox..." (Luke 13:32). 
• Figurative language can motivate people to take action. Instead of saying, "I am waiting for you to respond," Jesus told the church at Laodicea, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me" (Rev 3:20). This figure of speech would have evoked a powerful emotional response in the culture of that time.
• Most figures of speech create lasting impressions, and many are absolutely unforgettable. The Pharisees would never forget Jesus' description of them as "whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones" (Matt 23:27).
• King David spoke volumes about his relationship with God when he said, "The Lord is my shepherd" (Psalm 23:1). All that a shepherd is and does could be applied to God's watchful care over him by using a single, concise phrase.

General Guidelines for Interpreting Figurative Language is to understand the meaning intended by the author of that passage. Christ told us that we are the salt of the earth, 

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More here:
www.spiritandtruth.org/teaching/Bible_Interpretation/05_Special/05_Special_Notes.htm?x=x#note9

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